| First Author | ElTanbouly MA | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 221 |
| Issue | 1 | PubMed ID | 37938344 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:342452 | Mgi Id | MGI:7548272 |
| Doi | 10.1084/jem.20231838 | Citation | ElTanbouly MA, et al. (2024) Role of affinity in plasma cell development in the germinal center light zone. J Exp Med 221(1) |
| abstractText | Protective immune responses to many pathogens depend on the development of high-affinity antibody-producing plasma cells (PC) in germinal centers (GCs). Transgenic models suggest that there is a stringent affinity-based barrier to PC development. Whether a similar high-affinity barrier regulates PC development under physiologic circumstances and the nature of the PC fate decision has not been defined precisely. Here, we use a fate-mapping approach to examine the relationship between GC B cells selected to undergo additional rounds of affinity maturation, GC pre-PC, and PC. The data show that initial PC selection overlaps with GC B cell selection, but that the PC compartment accumulates a less diverse and higher affinity collection of antibodies over time. Thus, whereas the GC continues to diversify over time, affinity-based pre-PC selection sieves the GC to enable the accumulation of a more restricted group of high-affinity antibody-secreting PC. |
